


In Another Universe

by cyanically



Series: 48 Universe [1]
Category: AKB48, Majisuka Gakuen
Genre: F/F, Mild Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-04
Updated: 2014-03-04
Packaged: 2018-01-14 14:08:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1269268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyanically/pseuds/cyanically
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It doesn’t matter which life or universe they end up in- they will always find each other.</p><p>“You’re such a buzzkill, Maeda. I wanted to hear you sing,” Yuko pouted.<br/>“Maybe in another universe, you already have.”<br/>Yuko smiled. “In another universe, huh?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Another Universe

It was a fine spring day- the perfect weather for long walks.

Atsuko zoned out a little, staring up at the cherry blossom tree as small pink petals fell on her and Yuko.

“I wish you would smile more,” the older girl piped up suddenly, jolting Atsuko out of her contemplation.

Yuko’s head was inclined upwards, resting all the way against the backrest of her wheelchair to gaze at the girl pushing her. Atsuko looked down at Yuko with a small quirk of the lips and nodded wordlessly.

“You’re so damn boring, Maeda. Go learn a joke tonight and tell it to me tomorrow.”

“Hai.”

It had become a ritual of sorts for the two of them- this profound hope for tomorrow in the form of trivial tasks to be carried out.

Always, Yuko would request for another tomorrow. And always, Atsuko would give it to her.

————

 _S_ _he says, “Wake up, it’s no use pretending.”  
_ _~ Naked As We Came, Iron and Wine_

“Maeda.”

Atsuko whirled around, seeing Sado walking towards her from the end of the corridor. “Good morning, Sado-san.”

“How’s Yuko-san?”

“I just arrived too. I’m going to see her now,” Atsuko replied as they made their way to Yuko’s room. The room was dark when they entered, since the curtains were drawn. The sliver of light shining through barely illuminated the room and its occupant.

“Yuko-san?” Sado greeted softly. Yuko lay quiet and very still, her pale and small figure unmoving on the bed.

“Oh my god, Yuko-san?” Sado panicked, her longs fingers trembling as she reached for Yuko’s still face.

Atsuko parted the curtains and opened the windows with practiced ease. “Wake up, Yuko-san,” she requested calmly.

A muffled snicker came from the prone girl and she squinted at her visitors against the glare of the sunlight flooding into the room. Yuko burst out laughing uproariously at the sight of Sado’s tear-stained face.

It took the better part of the day to get Sado to talk to Yuko again but they managed to cap the night with fireworks and laughter.

————

Atsuko ushered the Catholic priest out of the room quickly. She murmured an apology to him, bowing deeply even as Yuko was swearing loudly inside the room and yelling for Atsuko to beat the crap out of the man.

Yuko was still ranting when Atsuko returned. “So did you thrash the sonofabitch good?”

“Yes, senpai.”

“Should’ve asked you to beat his ass dead since he likes going to his heaven so damn much.”

“Yes, senpai.”

“Stop doing that.”

“Yes, senpai.”

It was quiet after that- Yuko silently fuming and Atsuko sat next to her, reading her textbook.

“Do you think there’s a heaven?” Yuko asked suddenly.

Atsuko looked up from her book at the query and regarded Yuko with a thoughtful look.

“No.”

“Then what? Reincarnation?” Yuko seemed just as irritated with that concept as well. The idea of dying pissed her off and she was good at holding grudges.

Flipping to the next page of her nursing textbook and scanning absently through it as though it contained the answers, Atsuko was quiet for a good minute. “I believe in alternate universes,” she replied finally. "Our consciousness goes somewhere and mixes with an alternate version of us. That's why it sometimes feels like we're recalling past lives, or get moments of deja vu but in actuality, we are one endless being of energy in this multiverse."

That was the most Yuko had ever heard Atsuko say in a single sentence- probably even collectively. It took Yuko a while to realize that Atsuko wasn’t fucking with her, and she chuckled at last. “You mean maybe in another universe, I’m like some big-time celebrity or something?”

“An actress, maybe.”

“You could be Japan’s top pop idol!”

“I could.” Acchan nodded pragmatically.

“Hey, I’ve never heard you sing before. Tomorrow, let’s go karaoke.”

“No.”

“Aw, c’mon.”

“You already said you wanted to go to the arcade again. We won’t have enough time.”

“You’re such a buzzkill, Maeda. I wanted to hear you sing,” Yuko pouted.

“Maybe in another universe, you already have.”

Yuko smiled. “In another universe, huh?”

————

 _When all the world is spinning round_  
Like a red balloon way up in the clouds   
And my feet will not stay on the ground   
You anchor me back down   
~ Anchor, Mindy Gledhill 

It hurt. Her entire body existed for nothing but agony. In her pockets of lucidness, Yuko could just about make out Atsuko sitting beside her silently.

On bad days like these, Yuko was privately glad Atsuko was so stoic and calm. She didn’t want Sado around her sometimes because for all her sadistic tendencies and untouchable posturing, the Rapappa vice-president was a dramatic crybaby.

Yuko was exhausted. She was just too tired even to keep drawing her next breath. It seemed so easy to just stop and give into the darkness that loomed at the periphery of her consciousness- her body felt cold and weightless, almost as though she were floating away.

But the only thing still keeping her here during bad days like these was the solid warmth of Atsuko’s hand grasping hers.

————

Atsuko checked and doubled-checked everything. Windows closed, air purifier on, night light on. Oxygen tube secure, IV drip tangle-free, painkiller and call button within arm’s reach.

It just felt as though she’d forgotten something, Atsuko pondered frustratedly. She couldn’t leave until she remembered what it was.

Atsuko stood by the bed for a long time, running through the checklist again and watched Yuko phase in and out of sleep from the effects of the morphine.

She decided to leave before she missed the last train home. Atsuko was at the hospital’s foyer and her heart skipped a beat when she finally figured it out. Jogging briskly back into the building, she returned to Yuko’s room. The older girl blinked drowsily at Atsuko when she heard the door slide open.

“Yuko-san, what should I do for tomorrow?”

The hope for a tomorrow. Atsuko had never needed to ask before.

It took two slow, difficult breaths before Yuko could answer. “I thought you would never ask,” she rasped.

————

 _Love is watching someone die._  
So who’s gonna watch her die?   
~ What Sarah Said, Death Cab For Cutie

Tomorrow came and Atsuko dutifully carried out what was requested of her, as always.

It took some elbow grease to sneak Yuko out the fire escape route, though. Thankfully, Atsuko was ridiculously strong and Yuko hardly weighed anything.

Yuko had cracked a weak joke about feeling like a princess and Atsuko smiled as she carefully seated Yuko into the waiting wheelchair.

The weather was good today as well and Atsuko slowly wheeled Yuko under the cherry blossom tree again. She made sure that Yuko was tucked in warmly, but to no avail since the older girl stayed cold despite the fleece blanket and hot water bottle.

Sakura petals fell in a gentle shower over the two of them, landing lightly on her hair and all over Yuko’s blanket.

Atsuko picked up every last petal that had fallen on Yuko and placed them in her pocket for safekeeping. She didn’t bring Yuko’s body to the hospital until it got dark, humming that song Yuko loved so much as they made the last trip back together.

————-

_In another universe..._

Sakura petals were falling over them again. Yuko was startled by the microphone thrust in front of her all of a sudden.

“Uta ga saikou deshita,” she blurted out in response to Nakai's query. She repeated the sentiment once more for good measure and laughed through her tears.

Atsuko just smiled and leaned against her briefly, resting her head affectionately against Yuko’s.

Afterwards, it wasn’t until halfway through the movie with Yuko and Harugon that Atsuko finally remembered. The fragmented memories and promises from an alternate lifetime coming to Atsuko in formless pieces, bringing tears to her eyes as they flitted through her consciousness.

Blinking the sudden tears away, Atsuko glanced over at Yuko, who was fast asleep beside her, since it was her DVD and she’d already watched the show.

Entwining her fingers with Yuko’s, Atsuko pressed a light kiss to the side of Yuko’s head and inhaled the familiar scent of her own shampoo on the older girl.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Yuko-san,” she whispered into the soft hair and fell asleep snuggled up against Yuko’s warmth.

 

 _When the cherry blossom petals bloom_  
I can hear the bells of hope ringing somewhere   
Giving us the freedom and courage   
Of tomorrow

 _When the cherry blossom petals bloom_  
Someone is surely praying somewhere   
To open the door to a new world with their own hands   
~ Sakura no Hanabiratachi, AKB48

**Author's Note:**

> This story made a lot more sense in my imagination than it probably reads. 
> 
> But the last scene is from the Kayou-Kyoku show after Acchan's performance of Sakura no Hanabiratachi. It also refers to Yuko's anecdote about how she fell asleep on Acchan while they were watching a movie in Acchan's house.


End file.
